Wheeled supporting means for heavy machines



Jan. 18, 1938. i B. H. FLYNN I 2,106,090

. WHEELED SUPPORTING MEANS FOR HEAVY MACHINES I ori inal Fil ed Nov. 5, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 1.

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Jan. 18, 1938. ,B. H, FLYNN WHEELED SUPPORTING MEANS FOR HEAVY MACHINES ori inal FiledNov. 5, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2:5: :2 Illll 5:5

gmmam' wnwsss Jam) Patented Jan. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT WHEELED SUPPORTING MEANS FOR HEAVY MACHINES Benjamin H. Flynn, Alexandria, La.

6 Claims.

This application is a division of my pending U. S. application Serial No. 48,426, filed November 5, 1935 now Patent No. 2,088,369, July 27, 1937.

The invention aims to provide a new and improved wheeled supporting means for ditching machines or other machines designed for heavy duty, novel provision being made whereby the frame of the machine and parts carried thereby may be raised and lowered with respect to the wheeled supporting means, may be locked in adjusted position, and may be effectively braced with respect to said supporting means.

With the foregoing in View, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a ditching in machine including the invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one corner of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional View on line 55 of Fig. 4.

A ditching machine is shown having a rectangular frame l2 which includes longitudinal side 9 members 13 rigidly connected by transverse end members l4. Vertical'jack bodies i5 are secured to the frame l2 at or near the four corners thereof, and vertical jack shanks it are slidably engaged with said jack bodies, the lower ends of 35 said shanks it being provided with bearings ll receiving the ends of axles it having flanged wheels 19 to travel upon suitable tracks 20. If desired, however, the wheels 19 or their equivalents could well be engaged with endless tracks 49 in the form of caterpillar treads. Provision is made for vertically adjusting the jack bodies l5 upon the jack shanks ill to raise and lower the frame If, and I provide brace bars 2! for not only bracing said jack shanks when they are extended beyond the lower ends of the jack bodies l5, but for establishing fixed connections between the wheeled supporting means and the frame after the latter has been adjusted to the desired elevation. In the present showing, the bars 2| are rigidly secured at 22 to the bearings ll and said bars lie slidab-ly against vertical portions 23 of the frame i2. Vertical slots 24 are formed in the bars 2| and cap screws 25 pass through these slots and are threaded into the frame portions 55 23. Unless only a trivial vertical adjustment of the frame I2 is to be made, the cap screws25 are entirely removed before vertically adjusting said frame. After adjustment to the desired elevation, the screws 25 are passed through the slots 24 and threaded into openings in the frame portions 23, thus rigidly clamping the bars 2! to said frame portions. This not only effectively braces the jack shanks I6, but holds the frame l2 against any vertical creeping from the position at which it has been set.

In the preferred construction, the side members ill of the frame it include laterally spaced longitudinal plates 26 welded or otherwise secured against opposite sides of vertical channel bars, I-beams or the like. 23 above described, are located near the ends The frame portions of the plates 26, are in the form of channel bars,

and are spot-welded at 21 to the plates 2%. These plates project beyond the bars 23 so that these bars and the projecting plate portions form vertical channels in which the brace bars 2| are snugly received, said brace bars being preferably of channeled form as shown.

Hydraulic jacks are preferred, the cylinders thereof constituting the bodies l5 and the plungers the shanks l6, and suitable valved piping 30 and a pump 3i are provided to force oil into said cylinders from an oil tank. 32 mounted on the frame I2, for the purpose of raising said frame with respect to its wheeled supporting means. When the frame is to be-lowered, oil isreturned from the cylinders to the tank 32, this being accomplished by opening a valve 33 (Fig. 1) and by-passing the oil through this valve around the pump 31. The cylinders l5 are preferably welded to angle metal bars 34 (see more particularly Figs. 3 and 5), said cylinders being interposed between the side plates 25, to which said bars 34 are secured by cap screws 35 or in any other desired way.

A suitable engine 36 is shown upon the frame l2, said engine being operatively connected in any preferred manner with one of the axles I8 and with the rotary ditch-digging drum 31 which is appropriately mounted on the frame l2. The driving connections for the axle [8 are, of course, such as to function regardless of the extent to which the frame 12 be adjusted vertically. A number of sprocketchains 38 are preferably embodied in these driving connections, and through an appropriate arrangement of radius links 39, forming no part of the present invention, the sprockets and chains may be held in proper relation whether the frame be in raised or lowered position.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provision has been made for adjusting the body of the machine vertically with respect to the wheeled supporting means, for locking said body in any vertically adjusted position, and for effectively bracing the body and supporting means relatively. Excellent results may be obtained from the general construction shown and described and it may therefore be considered as preferred. However, within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may of course be made.

I claim:

1. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame, vertical jack bodies rigidly secured to said frame, vertical jack shanks slidably engaged with said jack bodies and projecting downwardly therefrom, wheeled supporting means to which the lower ends of said jack shanks are connected, means for vertically adjusting said jack bodies on said jack shanks to raise and lower said frame, rigid vertical brace bars connected with the lower ends of said jack shanks and lying slidably against portions of said frame, and means for rigidly securing said brace bars against said frame portions after vertical adjustment of the frame to the desired elevation.

2. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame, vertical jack bodies rigidly secured to said frame, vertical jack shanks slidably engaged with said jack bodies and projecting downwardly therefrom, the lower ends of said jack shanks being provided with bearings rigidly secured thereto, Wheeled supporting means operatively connected with said bearings, means for vertically adjusting said jack bodies along said jack shanks to raise and lower said frame, rigid vertical brace bars rigidly secured at their lower ends to said bearings, said brace bars lying slidably against portions of said frame, and means for rigidly securing said brace bars against said frame portions after vertical adjustment of the frame to the desired elevation.

3. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame, vertical jack bodies rigidly secured to said frame, vertical jack shanks slidably engaged with said jack bodies and projecting downwardly therefrom, wheeled supporting means to which the lower ends of said jack shanks are connected, means for vertically adjusting said jack bodies on said jack shanks to raise and lower said frame,

rigid vertical brace bars connected with the lower ends of said jack shanks, said frame being provided with rigid vertical guide channels in which said brace bars are snugly and slidably received, and means for rigidly securing said brace bars in said channels after vertical adjustment of the frame to the desired elevation.

4. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame, vertical jack bodies rigidly secured to said frame, vertical jack shanks slidably engaged with said jack bodies and projecting downwardly therefrom, wheeled supporting means to which the lower ends of said jack shanks are connected, means for vertically adjusting said jack bodies on said jack shanks to raise and lower said frame, rigid vertical brace bars connected with the lower ends of said jack shanks, said frame being provided with spaced rigid side plates at its longitudinal sides between which said brace bars are slidably received, and means for rigidly securing said brace bars to the frame after adjustment of said frame to the desired elevation.

5. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame, vertical jack bodies rigidly secured to said frame, vertical jack shanks slidably engaged with said jack bodies and projecting downwardly therefrom, wheeled supporting means to which the lower ends of said jack shanks are connected, means for vertically adjusting said jack bodies on said jack shanks to raise and lower said'frame, rigid vertical brace bars connected with the lower ends of said jack shanks, said frame being provided with spaced rigid side plates at its longitudinal sides between which said brace bars are slidably received, and being further provided with fixed vertical bars secured between said side plates and lying slidably against said brace bars, and means for rigidly securing said brace bars to said fixed bars after adjustment of the frame to the desired elevation.

6. In a heavy duty machine, a rigid frame including two parallel vertical plates, a vertical jack cylinder between said plates, four vertical angle metal bars welded to the exterior of said cylinder to impart a flat-sided formation thereto, means securing opposite flat sides of said cylinder against the inner sides of said plates, and wheeled supporting means having an upstanding jack shank slidably received in said cylinder.

BENJAMIN H. FLYNN. 

